7 Weeks Old!

And growing like a weed.  :) Taylor's first Christmas was this week.  She was spoiled by family and friends.  We can't wait to put her in all the cute outfits! We made it home from the holidays.  Again Taylor was an amazing traveler!  Not a peep on the plane.  It's as if she knows exactly what to do.

We had a doctors appointment the day after we came home and she is a whapping 6 pounds 11 ounces! She's 19 3/4" long and 35 cm head circumference. All in the 1%!  Strong and steady growth.   It's amazing!  She's grown out of her preemie clothes.  She has big blue eyes.  She likes to talk a lot and staring at the ceiling fan is her new favorite thing to do.


Week 7 photos... http://goteamshaw.shutterfly.com/pictures/310

6 Weeks Old!

Meeting new family and friends never ends for this kid.  We started off the week visiting Grandma Mary and meeting Aunt Karen.  It was a short but sweet visit. On Friday Taylor took her first flight.  She was a fantastic traveler (of course!), not a peep out of her. We are so lucky. We went to Portland for 10 days.  First stop, a birthday surprise for Grandma Cathy.  We knew she couldn't wait to get her hands on this baby! Taylor also has been officially kicked out of a bar.  As we stood waiting for our table at Famous Dave's BBQ for Grandma Cathy's birthday dinner we were standing in the bar area. The manager approached OZ and let him know he couldn't stand there with her since she was underage.  So we had to move 5 feet to the right.  We thought it was quite funny.

Off to Forest Grove, OR to meet long awaited cousins, aunts & uncles.  We went to Salem as well for a long over due visit with our good friends the Dobrowolski's who had there little baby Ella 2 weeks before Taylor.  It was fun taking pictures of the girls together.  

We wondered what she weighed so we put her on the wii fit board.  She weighed in just over 6 pounds.  She looks like she's getting bigger to me and she's grown out of her preemie clothes.  Her awake time between feedings is still steadily increasing.  All in all there was a lot of meet & greeting.  It was a busy week for sure getting ready for Christmas.

On to week 7...

Meg.

http://goteamshaw.shutterfly.com/pictures/277 - pictures here.

5 Weeks Old!

Ok, let's be real.  There are truly not enough hours in the day.  I thought I was busy before... How do moms of 3 & 4 do it?!?!  Week 5 has been a little more challenging.  We're back home and all I can see is a million projects needing to be completed, errands to run, to-do lists to complete, Holy Cow it doesn't end. In the mean time Baby Taylor is as sweet as can be.

At the beginning of this week we had Taylor's check-up.  She's up to 5lbs 9ozs.  She's put on a whole pound since birth.  You can see the difference in her cheeks.  She's filling out nicely and getting a little more meat on her bones.  This week was also Taylor's actual due date, so we're cutting her some slack on keeping us up so much the last 4 weeks and letting her have a fresh start.  haha.  We cut her nails every other day it seems like. They grow like weeds and are as hard as ... well, nails.  lol. Therefore her hands are rarely exposed.  We keep her in outfits with sleeve cuffs mostly or put mittens on her (which usually slide right off and we find ourselves putting them on repeatedly). Her eyes are getting lighter with more of a blue hue to them.  Her hair is becoming a bit more thinner and more like a peach fuzz.  We are working on a more of a sleep routine now.  We're having bath time every night, less stimulation, a little reading from momma & papa before off to sleep.  She really seems to like the sound of our voices and it seems to relax her.

She did some visiting this week.  After her check-up we went to my mom's for a visit and took pictures with the gingerbread men.  I think we also did this when I was a baby.  We went by Mesa Airlines to bring some baby cheer and see some of the folks we haven't seen yet.  We went by OZ's office so papa could show off his little bundle of joy.  At OZ's office Major Sweeny made a cute point about babies I hadn't noticed before.  That when babies hold their arms up they barely reach the top of their head, as the ratio of their head is about 1/3 of their total size.  She had her first trip to the hair salon at Dre's with me and she was a perfect angel. She met some of my girlfriends this weekend.  We took her to the Tempe Town Lake Parade of Lights with the neighbors.  And to end week 5 a nice visit with my dad who absolutely can not get enough snuggle time in with her!

Tonight we saw OZ's baby picture.  She definitely looks like him, with my eyes.  I wish I could capture a picture of her dimples.  I can't wait for her to start smiling.

Until next week... http://goteamshaw.shutterfly.com/pictures/252

Meg.

4 Weeks Old!

It has been quite a week, better late than never.  This mommy business is busy work.  I'm trying to stick to a timeline and stay organized, this week I had little success. Wish me luck!

Taylor is fitting in quite well with our little Shaw family.  She's been to 6 states in 4 weeks.  We discussed with her to stay in this family she needs to be a good traveler.  Turns out she's a Great traveler!  She slept great in the car of course, and we just planned our drives with a few pull over stops to feed, burp and change. Starting week 4 we left elk camp (with 2 elk, by the way) and traveled up to Oregon to see Grandma & Grandpa Shaw.  Boy were they surprised to see us!  We were able to introduce Taylor to OZ's Uncle Bill while we were there too.  We played some pinochle for the night and all the next day, then back on the road we went. On to Lake Tahoe to meet up with the Marrs.  Gunni quickly declared himself her Big Brother.  It was very cute how every squeal she made he would run over and ask, "Does she need her big brother?".  From Tahoe it was a very creepy drive through desolate Nevada back to Page to meet more family. She met more of her cousins. Aubree even made a cute little cheer for her and sweet Ryan just loved on her. Aran came down the street to visit, and she'll meet the rest of the Mowbray household when they're all feeling better. Uncle Pat even came to make sure we weren't making this whole baby thing up. He feels he has the naming rights to new comers in the family and has given her the name Beautilda Beth. Oh dear! We rested for a couple nights at my Uncle Mike's and onward to home in Tempe.  Slowly but surely we'll get to show her off to everyone. ;)

We have a feeding routine down.  I'm slowly trying to get more accomplished in-between feedings.  Her little feet and hands are so cute.  She has really strong neck muscles and is holding her head up really well.  I have to try to get a picture of when she sucks her chin down to her chest and makes her body straight and stiff like a plank. I think she makes the funniest faces. 

I worked on getting the photo's more organized.  Here are a few pictures from this week.  Eventually I'll start taking pictures with this in mind. So far it's all been snap shots from my phone.  http://goteamshaw.shutterfly.com/pictures/202

On to week 5.

Meg.

3 Weeks Old!

It was a week of firsts for little Miss Taylor.  Taylor's first Thanksgiving was pretty low key.  We were prepping to leave for our trip. So no turkey. Just a nice visit with Grandpa Shaw.  This week was Taylor's first road trip and elk hunt. We all piled into Grandpa Shaw's truck for our trip to the Grand Canyon.  She was a trooper.  Taylor went on her first elk hunt.  She hunted for about 10 hours.  We realized she has a natural coyote call.  She may have been confused about what we were hunting.  After Grandpa Mike and OZ landed their elks we met up with Uncle Casey & cousin Charlie.  On the way out we did a little sightseeing. Growing up our family took many great trips to the Canyon & Kaibab.  It was fun taking Taylor for her first time. Then onward to Page, my home town, for her first trip to the World Famous R.D.'s! She met a lot of family this week and more to come! She's been a great traveler. She's starting to stay awake a little more between feedings with her eyes wide open. I think her eyes are turning more blue.  She loves riding in Grandpa Shaw's truck. She loves to snuggle.  She's becoming quite the eater and makes the cutest faces when she's done eating.  Oh and I have to mention how long I think her feet are. They are as long as my pinky.  As I type this we are currently traveling in her first snow storm.   I'm catching up on weekly pictures. Here's what I have so far.  http://goteamshaw.shutterfly.com/pictures/183 More to come.  Enjoy! Meg.